Republican lawmakers in New Jersey have introduced articles of impeachment against the state’s attorney general, Matthew Platkin, in part due to Platkin’s attack on the state’s pregnancy resource centers (PRCs).
Platkin has been in a long legal battle with First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, which has five PRCs in the state, targeting its facilities by demanding its documents and records — including the names of its staff and donors. Platkin maintained that such information is necessary under the Consumer Fraud Act, as he claimed to have been concerned that a donor might have given money to the centers without realizing that First Choice does not facilitate abortions. As Live Action News previously reported, “Though there had been no complaints against First Choice, Platkin demanded 10 years’ worth of documentation and records in an apparent ‘fishing expedition,’ looking for any possible evidence of a crime committed by the PRC.”
First Choice challenged Platkin in court, and the lawsuit is ongoing.
“New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin has made no secret of his hostility towards pregnancy centers,” First Choice said in a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case. “He issued a consumer alert — drafted with the help of Planned Parenthood — complaining that such centers do not provide or refer for abortion. He also signed an open letter pledging to take legal action against pregnancy centers.”
READ: Group says Planned Parenthood report attempting to smear New Jersey pregnancy centers is ‘unfounded’
The state’s Republican lawmakers have referenced Platkin’s actions against First Choice in their laundry list of reasoning for why he should be impeached, noting that he has “targeted pro-life pregnancy centers due to the organization’s religious speech and pro-life views by issuing an overbroad subpoena to one of these centers. As reported, he aligned himself with Planned Parenthood’s pro-abortion mission and enlisted its help to target pro-life pregnancy centers.”
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the organization representing First Choice, has said that Platkin’s actions are unjustified.
“New Jersey’s attorney general is targeting First Choice Women’s Resource Centers—a ministry that provides free ultrasounds, baby clothes, and more to its community—simply because of its pro-life views,” said ADF Senior Counsel Erin Hawley, vice president of the ADF Center for Life and Regulatory Practice. “The U.S. Constitution protects First Choice and its donors from unjustified demands for their identities and First Choice is entitled to vindicate those rights in federal court.”
In a statement, Platkin said he will not “respond to partisan political attacks.”
“I am focused on the same priorities I have had since day one: driving gun violence down to historically low levels, holding social media corporations accountable for the harms they’re inflicting on our children, and protecting our residents — including by standing up to threats from Washington and fighting corruption, no matter who it offends,” he said in the statement.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Democrats hold an overwhelming majority in the state Assembly, so the impeachment attempt is unlikely to progress.
